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October rainfall right on the mark

Tuesday, December 11, 2018 - 10:55:35 AM

HAMILTON - According to National Weather Observer Eddie Pearce, the 3.02 inches of rain that Marion County received during October was exactly what could be expected from what’s generally the dryest month of the year.
According to Pearce, the 10th month is usually the dryest, as the normal amount of rainfall is 3 inches—and this year, Marion County nearly measured exactly that.
The rainfall measurements for 2018 remain above normal, despite the ordinary precipitation, with the year-to-date total rainfall measuring 51.31 inches, compared to a normal of 46.91 inches.
The driest month of 2018 does not compare to the driest month on record, according to Pearce, which was 1963. That year, Marion County received only trace amounts of rainfall. This means that the area did not receive even a measurable amount of precipitation.
Pearce said that during that same year, 101 of around 160 weather observation stations in the state also recorded no observable rainfall during the month.
This led to the driest month on record, where the state precipitation average was 0.03 inches.
The wettest October on record for Marion County was in 2009, when 12.65 inches of rain fell on the area.
While rainfall was just as predicted, temperatures varied from a high of 92 degrees on Oct. 5 to the low of 29 degrees on Oct. 22.
Residents certainly noticed the onset of the chill of autumn as the temperature varied 63 degrees during the month.
For Marion County, however, these temperatures did not break any records, nor likely raise any eyebrows.
The record high for the area is 101 degrees in 1911, according to Pearce, and the record low is 21 degrees in 1962.
While these records are very similar to state records, they don’t hold a candle to October temperature records for the South.
Pearce said that North Carolina holds the record for the coolest temperature in October for a Southern state, at 8 degrees, while Georgia holds the record for the hottest temperature in the South for the month at 105 degrees.